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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Latest News
DOE on track to deliver high-burnup SNF to Idaho by 2027
The Department of Energy said it anticipated delivering a research cask of high-burnup spent nuclear fuel from Dominion Energy’s North Anna nuclear power plant in Virginia to Idaho National Laboratory by fall 2027. The planned shipment is part of the High Burnup Dry Storage Research Project being conducted by the DOE with the Electric Power Research Institute.
As preparations continue, the DOE said it is working closely with federal agencies as well as tribal and state governments along potential transportation routes to ensure safety, transparency, and readiness every step of the way.
Watch the DOE’s latest video outlining the project here.
M. L. Corradini
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 86 | Number 4 | April 1984 | Pages 372-387
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE84-A18638
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
If a complete failure of normal and emergency coolant flows occurs in a light water reactor, fission product decay would eventually cause melting of the reactor fuel, leading to contact with water. An energetic fuel/coolant interaction (steam explosion) may result. Experiments were performed at Sandia National Laboratories in which ∼5 to 20 kg of molten fuel simulant were delivered into water in which the water mass was 1.5 to 50 times greater than the fuel. These experiments in subcooled and saturated water showed that spontaneous explosions occurred over the range of water/fuel mass ratio and that in certain experiments multiple explosions occurred. The kinetic energy conversion ratio was <2%. A model is proposed to describe the fuel/coolant mixing process. The model is compared to these intermediate-scale experiments. Additional data analysis indicates that the steam explosion is affected by the mixing process.